Cloth pads for women in Zimbabwe

Meet Emily Wilson. She works in Zimbabwe with women’s organizations and through this work she has discovered a real need to help women and girls gain access to menstrual supplies. In Emily’s words:

“At one meeting, a member of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe stated that there is a real need to engender humanitarian responses in the country; the example she gave is the fact that many women can no longer afford to buy sanitary wear, or else it is just not available in stores. This message was repeated over and over during my visits to different organizations and communities, and so knowing that I was to return to Zimbabwe again in early January, I decided to try and do something about this issue. I mobilized friends, family members and complete strangers in Ottawa to collect 35 boxes of tampons, 65 packages of maxi pads, and 5 packages of reusable pads. The collection drive was fascinating, as it started up numerous debates and discussions about the most appropriate sanitary wear for women in Zimbabwe (tampons versus pads), issues of health and sustainability (disposable versus reusable), etc. In the end, of course, I took what had been donated, and felt very grateful for all of the support received.

I took a giant suitcase of these items with me to Zimbabwe in January, and personally delivered them to a women’s shelter in the city of Bulawayo. I met with some of the young women there as well as members of the Board and people from the local Church who volunteer to help run the shelter. They were all extremely grateful and were very touched by the gesture. After discussing with them what the most appropriate items are for young women in Zimbabwe, it became clear that reusable pads are the best – in terms of being culturally appropriate, practical, and sustainable.”

This is where Lunapads comes in. Emily contacted us to help her collect enough pads to fill another suitcase (or two, or three!) with reusable cloth pads. She wants to give the women a lasting alternative and something beautiful and functional. So please, read about the groups Emily is working with in Zimbabwe and don’t hesitate to help a woman there today!

Choose: Sexual Rights Centre (Zimbabwe) from the donation options. You can donate a Pads4Girls Kit which gives a full set of pads needed for one woman/girl or you can donate any amount of money, which will go towards the purchase of more kits.

The Sexual Rights Centre is the ‘umbrella’ organization that will oversee delivery of the pads to The Haven, Contact Family Counselling and Ingutsheni Psychiatric Hospital. For the safety of the women they help we cannot provide much information about these organizations, but below are a few details.

The Haven is a shelter for abused women and their children, located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The shelter was established by concerned citizens and professionals from the legal, medical, psychological and education sectors. This committee of professionals started providing shelter for abused women and their children in 1999; a home was purchased as a permanent shelter in 2006. The Haven Trust and its networks provide education on women’s rights, HIV & AIDS, sexual & reproductive health, and livelihood skills. Members from the Bulawayo community provide food and in-kind support for the shelter, which is how it currently continues to operate.

Contact Family Counselling, also based in Bulawayo, offers free counselling services for families and children in difficult circumstances. The organization focuses on disadvantaged people to empower them to lead healthier and more productive lives. Contact also trains a broad range of health, social service and community workers in systemic counselling techniques. Contact initiated a Child Sexual Abuse Program in 2007, offering services to children and their families affected by sexual abuse. For more information: www.contactfc.org

Ingutsheni Psychiatric Hospital is one of the largest psychiatric facilities in Southern Africa. The hospital provides residential care and outreach support for people living with mental health problems. The hospital currently houses over 300 female patients. The hospital has experienced serious challenges in delivering effective medical resources and information for female patients. The Sexual Rights Centre currently works with the female patients at Ingutsheni and are appealing for sanitary products for the women. Access to sanitary products is a huge problem for Zimbabwean women and particularly women living in institutions.

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I heard about this initiative through a friend, and immediately thought–why pads? Why not the diva cup? It too is re-useable, possibly with a longer life than a re-useable pad. Perhaps you have already considered the diva cup (or similar products), however, I wanted to bring this great product to your attention in case you had not.

(You do mention in you blog that reuseable pads were more culturally appropriate than tampons, so I might assume that the diva cup would not be culturally appropriate.)

Yes, we have thought of the DivaCup (and the manufacturer is regularly inundated with requests cup donations for Africa). Unfortunately, many places in Africa do not have potable water and maintaining the cleanliness of an internal product like the DivaCup is extremely important from a health perspective. And yes, the cultural aspect is another factor.

Desirea

I would love to contribute some cloth pads, but I don’t have the money to buy yours. Is there somewhere that I can contribute my own?

noma

my name is noma. i want to know if you are based in bulawayo. i will be visiting the counrty for 6weeks and would like to volunteer as i understand the need for santary pads. hipe to hear from you soon

About Us

Lunapads.com is a women-owned, social mission driven business. Since 1993, we've helped our community feel more empowered about their periods, bodies, and consumer choices.